ESG Watch: Expert thinking on next steps towards an ESG-ready shipping industry

While we are living a decade of action for climate and decarbonization across all business sectors, the need for identifying the critical ESG issues for our industry has emerged due to regulatory initiatives, investor expectations and stakeholders demand.

As such, we cannot overlook that decision making will be impacted from ESG topics and the first step should be to identify those and work on fostering an ESG-driven culture. In this context, Safety4Sea’s special column asks industry stakeholders to provide feedback on the following question: “Has the maritime industry realized the importance of ESG? Next steps towards an ESG-ready industry.”

Carleen Lyden Walker, Chief Evolution Officer, IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador, SHIPPINGInsight, said:

Global society is getting closer to the marine transportation system, especially with its demands for performance. What they are looking for is accountability for shipping’s ESG. While the focus for now is on the E, the S and the G are not far behind. In addition to your emissions, where do you stand on DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Acceptance)? What started as a “feel good” has now become a requirement. This is augmented by social justice organizations raising awareness through global communications, prompting companies such as Patagonia, Ikea, Cargill and others to demand performance indicators. Investors, too, are scrutinizing these metrics, begging the question: How does your company measure up? How will our industry be judged on the world’s stage?